This took me quite a while to track this down so I decided to post a quick article on it.

Symptom: Getting page cannot be displayed errors when attempting to access a virtual machine’s (VM) console while using Safari, Firefox, or Chrome on a mac. This only applies for people using the VCSA (VMware vCenter Server Appliance) and running version 5.5.

The workaround requires that you go into Settings > Display and turn off “Accelerate 3D Graphics”. While this fix works just fine, it hampers your ability to work in the Linux VM due to the fact that you can’t resize the VM’s work area.

Apologies to anyone that has tried to comment on my posts. I noticed some apache errors and decided to do some digging.

In an effort to keep commenting as easy as possible but not wade through tons of spam, I was using a wordpress plug-in called WP-Captcha free. It appears that it was breaking the comment section after one of the updates, but was awesome prior to that. I’ve removed it and am trying another now that will only ask you for captcha if Akismet flags the comment as spam.

I’m not one to jump on the soapbox, well not usually ;), but SOPA/PIPA and other bills written as Anti-Piracy laws really threaten Internet freedoms. Politicians are paying far too much attention to the rights of corporations than they are to the rights of the people and that’s just not right… er… so to say.

Please vote and let politicians that back half-baked bills such as SOPA/PIPA, get it right. Did you know sponsors of SOPA/PIPA only caved in the last hour due to Internet outrage, … koff… Marco Rubio (from what I heard! It may not be true), and don’t really understand the technology or the ramifications of the tech laws that they are attempting to pass.

This is a quick tip on using a Synology NAS to backup with Time Machine in OSX Lion / Mountain Lion. If you have installed and are running the Synology Antivirus Essentials app, it is advisable to exclude the Time Machine backup location. You can do this by creating and running a ‘custom scan’ instead of running a ‘full scan’. If the antivirus makes any changes to the time machine sparsebundle it will likely cause the backup to become ‘corrupted’ from OSX’s standpoint, which will cause OSX to need to create a full backup again causing the loss of your backup history.

Bit Defender for Mac is also offered in the Mac app store and as with all Bit Defender products I’ve come across offers solid and superior protection. It’s free and can be used to scan your drives, however I did not see the ability to conduct specific items scans or provide live protection.

I recently purchased a new 2012 Macbook Pro, not the retina model, and have been loving it. After a month or so of use, I decided to upgrade both the RAM and the hard drive because I wanted to squeeze every ounce of performance out of the machine that I could without paying the premiums that Apple charges for it’s upgraded parts.

Meta

… since manuals just never quite cut it.

My name is Clement DeLarge and I'm an Associate Director and Lead Infrastructure Architect for the ECCS (Enterprise Compute and Cloud Services) team with Cognizant Technology Solutions. When I'm not working, I'm spending time with family, riding my motorcycle, playing games, playing with technology, or just about anything else that's fun that I come across.